Transitioning to high-performance aircraft, those with engines of more than 200 horsepower, is an exciting step in advancing your aviation training, but are you ready for a handful of throttle and prop pitch in the 230-plus horsepower Cessna 182 in which you'll likely be learning?
Let’s get you ahead of the curve with some equally powerful pearls of wisdom on throttle, prop, and mixture settings.
1. Start-up: Throttle 1/8 of an inch, prop knob full forward, mixture rich. Then, do the usual mixture leaning and power setting per the checklist.
2. Takeoff: Throttle full, prop knob full forward, mixture as recommended for field elevation.
3. Climb: Throttle 23 inches of manifold pressure, prop knob brought back to 2500 RPM, mixture as set. Bringing the prop knob back to 2500 RPM will increase the manifold pressure to 25 inches because of the increased bite of the propeller preventing the engine from releasing all its energy.
4. Level off from climb: Reduce power to around 21 inches of manifold pressure and then the prop knob to 2300 RPM. The manifold gauge will now show about 23 inches of pressure for the same reason as above (not letting the engine release all the power it’s generating). Adjust mixture as necessary.
5. Climb from level flight: Move the prop knob full forward, then add power. Doing so prevents excessive power from building up in the engine without being able to release it due to the cruise-prop level setting still taking a good-sized bite out of the air and restricting its rotation speed. Mixture rich or as recommended on the checklist.
6. Descent from level flight: Reduce throttle first, then the prop lever to prevent over-speeding of the engine by the propeller.
7. Level off from descent: Move prop lever forward first to allow it to spin faster and be ready to receive a power increase from the throttle to maintain level flight. Adjust mixture per the recommended checklist setting.